THE WHO, WHAT, WHEN, WHERE AND WHY OF KENT’S CAMPAIGN FOR THE 2012 GAMES

WHO : WHAT : WHEN : WHERE : WHY :

THE 'WHAT' OF KENT'S CAMPAIGN

The Kent Coordinating Group for the 2012 Games is a partnership of sectors from across the county who came together to ensure that Kent understands, creates and maximises opportunities for this county from London hosting the 2012 Games. It has deliberately adopted a thematic approach to its activities, with the expectation that locally focused partners (e.g. a local authority, a school, a library, a community group, a business) will identify for themselves where the 'magic dust' of the Games can be used to achieve a local priority. Each member of the partnership represents a sector and not just an organisation. The absolute focus of the Kent Coordinating Group and its nine sectoral task groups is NOT what can be delivered in 2012, but how we can use '2012' to deliver a lasting legacy across all our nine themes.

A Kent Strategy for the 2012 Games has been produced and consulted upon. This will be Officially Launched on 14th May 2007, attended by the patron of Kent’s Campaign, Dame Kelly Holmes MBE. This strategy is a framework for Kent’s activity around the 2012 opportunities.

The London Olympic Games will host their Opening Ceremony on July 27th 2012, the Olympic Games ending some two and a half weeks later on August 12th. The Paralympic Games then begin on August 29th, with the Games’ closing ceremony being held on September 9th. The main Olympic/Paralympic Park will be in Stratford, east London, but a number of venues will be across London, and a small handful across the UK (namely football, sailing, rowing, canoe slalom, mountain biking). With 204 nations competing in the Olympic Games, and 152 in the Paralympic Games, 11 million spectators across the 6 weeks, and 4 billion television viewers, the Games are the world’s single largest peacetime event. The Olympic Games will see 26 sports competed over 39 disciplines, the Paralympic Games 19 sports – and with 22 000 competitors and officials at the Games, in excess of 20 000 media personnel, and 70,000 volunteers (the largest number of volunteers ever used at a Games (forthcoming Beijing 2008 aside), The London Games promise to live up to their billing of being the greatest show on Earth.

Any Olympic and Paralympic Games is not just about sport however, and in fact the Games are traditionally based on three “pillars” – sport, culture, and the environment. London are looking to very much celebrate all three of these pillars, through not just the sports competitions themselves, but through a four year Cultural Olympiad and UK Cultural Festival leading up to 2012, and through London’s self-styled billing as the greenest ever Games. More on these can be found on London 2012’s website